Crippled ferry scrambles summer sailing schedule in San Juans

Published 7:53 am, Wednesday, July 19, 2017

State ferries operating out of Anacortes are running on an emergency schedule after the ferry Yakima suffered a generator failure on Tuesday.

State ferries operating out of Anacortes are running on an...

A massive equipment failure on a Washington state ferry could affect travel for weeks in the San Juan Islands.

Starting Wednesday morning, state ferries operating out of Anacortes are running on an emergency schedule and runs already are being canceled.

The Wednesday morning international sailing to Sidney, B.C., is canceled. People with reservations will be able to get on the 2:50 p.m. sailing on a first-come, first-served basis -and it could be that way for weeks.

They are now operating on an emergency four-boat schedule because the ferry Yakima suffered a generator failure on Tuesday. Repairs aren't going to be quick and getting another vessel in service here could take weeks.

At the same time, ridership is up 50 percent in the summer - and the Washington State Ferries fleet is getting old. The average vessel age is now 30 years old. Three of the 22 vessels in the fleet were out of service as some point just this past weekend due to mechanical problems.

Right now, you can't make any new car reservations to the San Juans until July 28. Anyone who does have a reservation can cancel it without a penalty -and no-shows won't be charged.

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Crippled ferry scrambles summer sailing schedule in San Juans

But anyone who uses their reservation is advised to arrive at the dock as early as possible.